Reaching Gen Z

Since less than 3% of Mongolians claim faith in Jesus, YouTube stars Jason and Jayel are out of the ordinary. The young couple shot to fame after their dance group (called “116” after Romans 1:16) performed on Mongolia’s Got Talent in 2018. Since then, they have continued to openly share their faith on YouTube, making vlogs that encourage healthy habits and friendships and even uploading a hugely popular video of their Christian wedding.

With 285,000 subscribers on YouTube, the couple’s success was most striking to FCS Mongolia because their audience falls within the pivotal age group of 16-20 years old. When the world shifted online during the pandemic, it was Youtubers like Jason and Jayel who continued to be an influence when many other human contacts were cut off. As FCS Mongolia considered how their groups could continue to evangelize online, they realized that working with this couple could extend their reach. Since an FCS staff member attended the same church as Jason and Jayel, the movement was easily able to connect with them to discuss what a partnership could look like.

Jason and Jayel were elated to get involved. With FCS Mongolia, they created the very first “Time of Youth” Zoom event, emceed by FCS students. The event featured a game and a question and answer session with the YouTube stars. Jason and Jayel also shared openly about their faith and its impact on their lives. A staff member with FCS said that their talk opened the door for the gospel.

“When we shared the gospel after that, most students were open to listening. For some, it was the first time they had heard the gospel. In all, we reached more students through these events compared to physical meetings. Students even asked more about [the couple’s] Christian faith during the open question and answer time. During the group time and after the event ended, some newcomers even openly asked about how they could join our movement.”

After questioning how they could reach students during the pandemic, staff say by God’s grace this event helped “keep the torch of evangelism burning.”

“Through this event, we saw that God is still actively working through this movement and we thank God that our mission of reaching students is still up and running.”

Jason and Jayel continue to have a heart for students in their country and have agreed to a more long-term partnership with FCS Mongolia. Pray with us this week for the future of this movement and the hearts of students they long to reach.

Pray that over the next semester, FCS will be able to follow up with the new students who attended the event.

Pray that God will raise up a new generation of staff within the next two years who would be able to engage Gen Z students. Most of the Christian population is female in Mongolia, so pray that more male staff members would join in order to reach and disciple more male students.

Pray for the publishing ministry of FCS, that they would be able to translate and publish good books that would bless the Mongolian church.

FCS is pioneering a new group in the Western province of Mongolia. Pray that the ministry there will be firmly established. Pray also for a good building that will be sustainable to use as an office and student center.